Pieces of 8 Good intentions aside, Africa gets the shaft

It is hard to know how much "consciousness" was raised by the big Live 8 concerts around the globe last weekend. It’s also difficult to gauge how much pressure they will create at the G-8 Conference in Edinburgh. Although it can easily be pooh-poohed as just another one-shot, feel good self-congratulatory rock ‘n’ roll event (albeit the largest one ever), this was a good thing to do. Live 8 will create awareness, and it will wring more money out of wealthy Western nations to relieve the incredible suffering in Africa. More people will live because of it.

Unfortunately, while aid and debt-relief are immediate needs, quick fixes and even huge infusions of cash are not enough to reverse the grim situation in Africa. The money must be used wisely, and there must be accountability. An op-ed piece in Sunday’s New York Times by William Easterly, an NYU economics professor, suggests that large projects involving a multitude of agencies don’t work, because no individual agency is held responsible. He writes that piecemeal projects administered by one agency are more likely to be effective. An even larger problem: too many tyrannical regimes have been ripping off their own people for too long. This will diminish only with real political and economic reforms. Africans must do this for themselves, although it’s our moral duty to help in any way we can.

A final note: after getting called out on the world stage, Dubya made all kinds of declarations about sending more aid to Africa. It’s worth nothing, though, that Paul Applegarth, the chief executive of the Bush’s administration’s Millennium Challenge Corporation — which manages the Bushies’ "signature" aid package, the Millennium Challenge Account — quietly announced his resignation recently. Phillipe attended one of the early Washington meetings concerning the distribution of Millennium Challenge funds, and it was awash in bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo. According to the New York Times’ report on Applegarth’s resignation — coming, coincidentally, just after African leaders declared the effort too slow — "The program has given final approval for aid to only two countries, Madagascar and Honduras, and has disbursed almost no money." You can bet your booties that Boy George will cite the funds sitting in storage as actual aid to poor countries, even if they never see a dime of it. Oh, that old trick. Let them eat bush meat, right, Dubya?

A CONCERT CLOSER TO HOME

Our good friend, the musician Otis Read, suffered a stroke June 1. Some of his friends are holding a concert to honor him, and not coincidentally, raise some funds for the accumulating bills. Otis’s work over more than 30 years as a guitarist, singer, composer, and producer, in a wide variety of musical styles, has made him a unique and indispensable member of the community. He has also performed in hundreds and hundreds of benefit concerts.

We can return the favor Thursday, July 14, at the Nirvana Lounge, over the India restaurant, 520 Main Street in Warren (401.245.4500). The music starts at 7 with the Kat’z Meow, the Mickey Band, and the Providence Wholebellies. This will be wildly eclectic and entertaining. Rick Adam and Rudy Cheeks will share emcee duties, and there will also be a silent auction. We hear that Otis may join Kat’z Meow for a few numbers.

Admission is $15 (more if you can, less if you cannot). For those who can’t make it to the concert, please write a check to Otis Read and send it to him at 47 Washington Street, Warren, RI 02885.

CODE RED

P&J boated up the Taunton River from Mount Hope Bay last week to visit the proposed LNG terminal site in Fall River. Oh yes, what a great place to put this time bomb. A major road runs along side of the site, there are 1200 houses within burning distance (people live in these — quelle surprise!). It is also on the largest source of fresh water for Narragansett Bay.

But what really gets P&J, beyond the potential for loss of life and habitat, is how four major bridges will need to close whenever a LNG tanker comes up to the site, supposedly because of concerns about terrorism. The Newport Bridge, the Mount Hope Bridge, the Interstate 195 Fall River Bridge, and the Brightman Bridge (and its replacement, currently under construction) will all have to shut down for as much as a half-hour when the ship passes underneath. Do you want to talk traffic jams? Cars backed up down Farewell Street to almost the Fifth Ward or First Beach in Newport, to Main Street in Warren, Fairhaven or Barrington on 195, and to the Venus de Milo in Swansea? How’s that for a fun scenario? Just so some energy corporation makes some big bucks. Great.

The exposure to danger and the disruption of our everyday life is beyond any type of rational thinking, and this baby should be put to bed ASAP. As Robert Oppenheimer quoted the Bhagavad Gita when he saw the first test of the atomic bomb, "Now I have become death, destroyer of worlds."

RICE CRISPY

Our friends at the Urinal’s "Political Scene" made a humorous note of how overreacting House Minority Leader Robert Watson accused a colleague, freshman Representative Amy Rice, a Democratic princess from Portsmouth, of giving him the finger after he criticized one of her bills concerning animals as "The Skunk Act of 2005."

Rice told the BeloJo that she was merely scratching her nose, and just happened to use her middle digit. Oh, OK, we’ll buy that, Amy. Just like the guys from the Pueblo, the Navy ship taken into custody by North Korea years ago. In the photo released by the North Koreans to show they were alive and well, the sailors just happened to be flipping the bone, with their captors unaware of it.

That’s the kind of discourse we enjoy at Halitosis Hall. It’s certainly more entertaining than some of the absurd blustering that emits from the mouths of our hot air specialists in the General Assembly. P&J offer a meal at Casa Diablo to Ms. Rice, or any of her fellow legislators, for the first person who ups Amy’s ante by standing up and giving the full arm salute with their hand in the crook of their elbow. Criticize this!

A FEW QUICK THOUGHTS

If Celona is alleged to have scammed so much out of his sponsors, how come he couldn’t locate a decent toupee? Perhaps he’ll be able to consult with the Bud-I about this in the not too distant future . . .

• Cable TV’s Discovery Channel recently ran a series of shows in which viewers were encouraged to choose "The Greatest American." Ronald Reagan squeaked by Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. This shows how those Republicans still know how to organize to get out the vote. Madonna’s on the list, but not Louis Armstrong, and Elvis Presley takes eighth place, four slots ahead of Thomas Jefferson. This ought to give you some idea of the insightfulness of this poll . . .

• The quote of the week comes from the floor debate in the state Senate on the worthless waiting period bill for women seeking abortions. According to the BeloJo, the sponsor, Senator Stephen Alves (D-West Warwick), said, "Maybe it’s our job to inject a little morality into our society." Thanks, Stephen . . .

• Not to be outdone, US Senator Rick Santorum was quoted in USA Today as saying, in a discussion about stem cell research, "I don’t believe the federal government should countenance the destruction of human life. It’s all about politics, about scientists who want to play God. Science is not a moral-free zone." No, but Santorum’s brain has proven to be a logic-free zone.

Send Maryland crabs and Pulitzer-grade tips to p&j[a]phx.com.